I’ve been redoing a lot of landscaping in my yard lately and usually mix cow manure into the soil. I don’t even use gloves sometimes, I love it that much. I bought some shrubs the other day from a nursery that did not sell manure because of “mad cow disease” (huh?) but they recommended I try cotton burr by Back to Nature. OK, fine. When I pulled my car around to the pick up area I was floored by the unbelievable bad breath seeping from the guy’s mouth who loaded the compost into my car. I was 5 feet from the guy and it was windy but I could still smell his ass mouth.

Moving on, I got into my car and soon realized the intense smell was actually coming from that piece of shit (ironic because I actually wanted to buy shit) cotton burr and not from the decent young man I failed to tip. Believe me when I tell you, without exaggeration, that this was easily one of the foulest smells I have ever experienced.

Let me see if I can describe it for you… imagine going to a Phish concert and capturing the bad breath of every filthy hippie in some sort of bad breath vacuum. Now get in your car and drive to the nearest Korn concert and suck up a little more bad breath. Now imagine that ungodly mixture of air is your only source of oxygen for a 15 minute car ride. Keep in mind the bag was closed, all of my windows were open and I was driving with my head out the window and I still had to literally fight back barf. I was longing for the smell of cow shit the entire way home.

16 comments to “Cotton burr compost & mulch!”

Understanding what you’re going through, I too have used Cotton Burr. Except, I had 400 pounds of it in the back of my truck, and had to spend the next three weeks with my hands (gloved, because it smelled toxic) wrapped up in the warmth of the non-poo.
Fuck the people who think they’re making a difference in our atmosphere because they’re buying a fertilizer that’s “green.” The poo is still sitting in the pasteurs. It’s not going any where. It’s just gonna turn into dirt in about three weeks anyway.

Waaah! Such babies.
Yes, it has an odor, like any organic product, but either you grossly overstate the problem for comedic effect or have a nose like a bloodhound!
I have used CBC for three years as part of the process of keeping my very large garden productive.
Put it on and till it in. Or top dress around your plants.
Yes, I dig in it with my hands, and spread it with my fingers. In Missouri, where I live, we use soap to wash with. I’ve never had an issue with lingering odor from cotton burr compost. Try soap– preferably Lava. …and clean your fingernails.
I’m surprised at your comment(s)– do you by any chance work for Monsanto?

Now that we have that out of the way… Maybe I got a bad batch or something but I can assure you I am NOT exaggerating. It was literally one of the foulest smelling things I have EVER encountered. Seriously, I thought I was going to drive off the road from the smell and my yard smelled for weeks. It was horrible!

Well, I’ll give you some slack. Not a lot, but some.
Perhaps cotton burr compost, like manure, can exhibit great variability, depending on how long it has left the processing plant, or the cow, respectively.
In my experience green [fresh] manure is the worst thing to muck a field or garden with. First, there is the problem of picking it up without ending up wearing it, then there is the spreading issue.
CBC on the other hand, at least the way I acquire it, comes in these nice 2 cu ft sealed bags. Yes the smell, which I prefer to describe as “earthy,” will permeate a vehicle in short order (or short odor?). As soon as it is removed and the car is aired a bit the odor goes away. Just don’t break a bag open in the car!
… keep those hands and nails clean….

When it is wet and in a plastic bag, cotton burr compost does smell dreadful. But then your mouth smells dreadful in the morning too, but I bet you’re worth being loved.
Cotton burr compost is better in the garden than in a plastic bag. There is no objectionable smell, even after a rain. I love it in my yard. Under the trees it is reducing the weeds, and around perennials I detect no smell.
Perhaps you should share your comment with the garden shop from which you bought it. Perhaps they need to work harder at keeping it dry. Buy dry bags next time and you will smell nothing special during your car ride home.

I was wondering what that foul stench in the community garden was. I kept thinking it was somehow coming from my plot. It smelled like pure excrement. The guy in the plot next to mine had three bags of cotton burr compost sitting there for a week (unsmelly), but once he spread it out I noticed the stench.

My gardener calls this stuff mulch and it smells HORRIBLE!
He applied it 4 inches deep all over the roses and bushes at the front of my home! I’m embarrassed to have guests over
(even 3 weeks later!). WHEN will the smell dissipate???
I would prefer regular manure. At least it eventually
seeps into the earth and it’s identifiable. This stuff just sits there with its STRONG SICKENING odor!

Joan – I feel your pain, it really does smell like death. I have never experienced a smell like that before. I think it took a couple weeks for it to go away. That plants loved it but what do they know, they are plants.

I’ve used CBC for a couple of years now to break up my clay soils and increase microbial activity. It has done (and continues to) do the job. I do occasionally get a smelly bag (which I add to my compost pile for further composting.) This product has allowed me to change my soil and grow healthy, thriving plants from veggies to trees. I don’t doubt some of you have gotten a smelly load, but the negative hyperbole here borders on the ridiculous. So you hate Phish, Korn, and cotton burr–no surprise there. Not many people have their own dedicated hate page. I gladly welcome a spot on your list since such a list appears to give you satisfaction, but all of this is a pretty pathetic form of amusement–you and the smelly compost are probably perfect for each other.

I love this website and string! I thought your comments on smelly hippies and korn folks to be very amusing, being that I liked both bands at one point. My store just got CBC and I can’t wait to get it wet and see how ridiculous this crap smells. Thanks for the warning.

Hey debbie downers. Don’t like the information being provided. get off the website.

I just had my first encounter with stinky CBC – and you are not exaggerating while being hilarious! I covered a bed in the backyard, my daughter came home from school (through the front yard, mind you) and asked why it smelled like a big cat litter box outside. My husband and son went out back later to practice ball and were horrified – hubby called it odorific. I used some last year and did not have the stench problem, but it is awesome stuff – hoping to find some more that is not gag-inducing.

The thread started out pretty hilarious. Now for the truth! LOL I LOVE the stuff. I do smell it when I ride home in the car, but nothing a cracked window doesn’t cure. My plants, THRIVE in it mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with soil to give it a good start. I usually plant it so it mounds a little for over time with continued break down of the compost, the plant should drop down. So not too high, just a little. Love it!

The odor goes away quickly, but the product is still great for mulching. I only had to pull about six weeds from my garden all year. I think you may be overly dramatic. Is everything in your life this stressful?

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I’M OVERLY DRAMATIC? WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT IDEA ABOUT ME???? MY LIFE STRESSFUL?!?!!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT? HOW IS MY LIFE STRESSFUL AND DRAMATIC? I’M GOING TO KILL MYSELF IF YOU DON’T EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!!!!!